BUSINESS BIO

Where is the enterprise based? Ottery St Mary, Devon

Key business markets: IT services and Leadership development

Annual turnover: £420,000 in 2009

% of turnover which is trading income (as opposed to grants): 72%

Number of employees:12

www.cosmic.org.uk

ambassadors

Julie Harris

Julie Harris
  • COSMIC

  • CEO

  • Devon

Clarity of vision and a healthy mix of income streams have put ICT enterprise COSMIC on a firm footing to become a champion for inclusion the South West.

In rural areas, access to IT services can be patchy, and young people can find themselves with few job opportunities. These may seem like two separate issues, but COSMIC addresses them both in one very successful social enterprise.

Based in east Devon and working across the South West, COSMIC offers web design, ICT consultancy and training. It was originally born out of a venture in a youth club, where lottery funding was used to provide ICT training to young people and the very local community.

Then in 2002, chief executive and Social Enterprise Ambassador Julie Harris was promoted from within the business and given a clear mandate to develop the project into a full-scale social enterprise. In doing so, she maintained the youth training element while considerably widening the scope of the organisation and its impact in supporting other third sector organisations.

“We’re here to make sure that people and the organisations that support them get the best out of ICT,” explains Julie. “We want them to have access to technology in their personal and business lives, and generally make the most of it.”

When Julie took over, COSMIC moved out of the youth club and into new premises, but she made sure young people continued to be engaged. There’s still a strong youth focus through work experience and training projects, and also on providing top quality support to other community-based organisations including other social enterprises.

“The themes of rurality and youth are linked,” says Julie. “People can be more cut off in this area, because there are some areas where broadband is never to be available. Rurality poses problems in how people use ICT and the internet. And young people, along with everyone else, can find it hard to access training.

"So we focus on young people and training, giving them skills for employment. But we really work to improve skills and inclusion for everyone else too.”

COSMIC generates income by selling ICT services, such as website design, training, consultancy and technical support to community organisations, businesses and to local authorities.

The future for COSMIC is all about ensuring that we help more and more people to get the most from ICT and social enterprise, using both to improve lives and fulfil potential.

The income from these activities funds the provision of ICT training and facilities, and mobile outreach programmes. These mainly target young people, older people who have ‘missed out’, and people in remote areas. Increasingly, they also help voluntary groups and small businesses.

For the past several years, during Enterprise Week – a nationwide focus on enterprise and young people – COSMIC has handed over key roles and responsibilities to four local students to help them gain an insight into social enterprise. Through this kind of work, it hopes to improve young people’s skills and ambitions, and particularly give them an insight into social enterprise as a future career option.

“COSMIC has been a leading light championing ICT and its opportunities for business and communities in Devon,” says John Baker, economic development officer at Devon County Council. “Julie recently joined the Devon economic partnership and was able to contribute to the debate on a low carbon economy where ICT is seen as a key tool in transforming behaviour and enabling more carbon friendly ways of working.”

The success of COSMIC has resulted in it developing a new aspect to the business which is providing other social enterprises with support and development opportunities specifically focussed on Leadership. COSMIC is running a two year pilot programme which will see the development of a brand new qualification in Leadership of Social Enterprises, and has also developed a mentoring service for the leaders participating in the programme to provide additional support and encouragement. The demand for this new programme has proven very high and already COSMIC is working with leaders across the South West and extending the service to provide support for exchange and expedition experiences. www.cosmiclively.org.uk 

“For me the future for COSMIC is all about ensuring that we help more and more people to get the most from ICT and social enterprise, using both to improve lives and fulfil potential. Our increasing work with other organisations and social enterprises mean that we can now reach many more people and support these improvements to change the way things are done – inclusion and innovation, that’s the future.” 

Quick Facts

  • Cosmic was the first organisation to be awarded the Social Enterprise Mark – a mark of assurance for the social enterprise sector, launched at the Eden Project on November 29 2007.
  • In 2008, COSMIC’s income was made up of the following elements: 27% website services; 16% training services; 33% revenue grants and contracts; 8% technical support; 15% consultancy.
  • During 2008, over 700 adults received training from COSMIC.

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